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The  Gospel  of  Christ  the  Hope  of  the  World. 


A SERMON 

PREACHED  BEFORE  TUB 

AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION, 

AT  ITS 

ELEVENTH  ANNIVERSARY, 


IX 


MANSFIELD,  OHIO, 
Oct.  14,  1857, 


BY  REV.  LEICESTER  A.  SAWYER, 

WESTMORELAND,  N.  Y. 


% Scto-gorfe : 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION,  4S  BEEKMAN  STREET. 

PRINTED  BY  JOHN  A.  GRAY,  16  AND  18  JACOB  STREET,  NEW- YORK. 

1857. 


(Tljc  dosptl  of  Cjjvist  tin  |jopr  of  tljc  (Wtovlit. 


Mark  16  : 15,  16. 


'•  And  he  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ; but  he  that  believeth  not 
shall  be  damned.” 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  and  of  his  kingdom,  signifies  the  Christian  dispensa- 
tion, in  distinction  from  that  of  Moses  ; or  the  covenant  of  God  with  men 
under  Christ,  with  its  eternal  and  unchangeable  law  of  righteousness,  its 
provisions  for  the  exercise  of  mercy  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  its  great 
expiatory  sacrifice  in  the  death  of  Christ,  with  the  institutions  of  baptism, 
the  Lord’s  Supper,  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  the  Christian  Church  with  its 
public  worship  and  instructions  ; and  the  accompanying  mission  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  to  convince  the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judg- 
ment, and  to  abide  with  God’s  people  as  their  guide  and  assistant  in  well- 
doing. 

This  Gospel,  this  announcement  of  Christ  and  his  kingdom,  and  the 
covenant  of  God  with  men  under  Christ,  was  proclaimed  to  the  world  as 
good  news.  Angels  rejoiced  in  the  proclamation  of  it,  and  it  was  cele- 
brated by  the  heavenly  choirs.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  and  of  God  was 
announced  as  the  hope  of  the  world,  and  as  a vast  empire  of  truth  and 
righteousness  which  was  destined  to  fill  the  world  with  joy  and  peace,  by 
filling  it  with  holiness.  Christ  preached  his  own  Gospel  during  his  public 
ministry,  and  commissioned  his  disciples  to  preach  it  with  him ; after  his 
crucifixion,  he  left  the  preaching  of  it  to  his  disciples,  and  charged 
them  to  pursue  it  till  every  human  being  should  hear  the  joyful  sound. 
This  work  is  still  unaccomplished.  The  Gospel  is  not  yet  preached  to 
every  creature,  and  the  injunction  is  still  resting  upon  us  to  pursue  the 
preaching  of  it.  The  divine  requirement  is  explicit  and  peremptory, 
“ Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  and  we  may  not  desist  from  our 


4 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


labors,  nor  turn  aside  from  our  work,  till  it  is  accomplished,  and  the  world 
saved.  It  is  our  work  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ ; it  is  God’s  work  to 
give  it  success  in  converting  and  saving  men.  Christ  did  not  send  out  his 
servants  alone ; he  sent  the  Spirit  to  direct  and  assist  their  endeavors, 
and  to  make  their  word  mighty  and  powerful ; and  he  has  pro- 
mised to  continue  this  aid,  till  time  shall  end.  Wherever  in  the  process 
of  ages  the  Gospel  has  been  preached  in  its  purity,  it  has  proved  the  wis- 
dom and  power  of  God  to  salvation  to  every  one  who  has  received  it. 

It  is  not  a cunningly  devised  fable,  nor  a conjectural  system  of  faith  in 
respect  to  the  invisible  and  the  unknown.  It  is  a system  of  religious 
truth  attested  by  evidence  which  is  conclusive,  and  in  regard  to  which 
we  need  not  be  deceived.  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour 
of  men,  and  his  requirements  of  love  and  righteousness  are  a reality. 
Our  own  existence  and  that  of  our  neighbors  is  not  certified  by  clearer 
evidence,  than  the  existence  and  work  of  Christ ; neither  is  it  more  cer- 
tain that  we  exist  at  this  moment,  than  it  is  that  Christ  lived,  died, 
and  rose  again,  and  that  he  ascended  on  high  to  prepare  eternal  joys  for 
his  disciples  and  followers. 

It  is  mentioned  as  an  inducement  to  preach  the  Gospel,  that  whoever 
believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved , while  the  unbelieving  will  be 
condemned.  In  agreement  with  this,  Paul  says  to  the  Philippian  jailer, 
“Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and  thy 
house.”  (Acts  16  : 31,)  and  Philip  baptizes  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch  on  a 
profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God.  (Acts  8 : 37-38.) 
Paul  also  tells  us,  that  the  righteousness  which  God  approves  is  from 
faith  to  faith,  (Rom.  1 : 17,)  that  it  is  without  the  law,  (of  circumcision 
and  other  Jewish  rites,)  but  is  by  a faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  and 
upon  all  them  that  believe,  (Rom.  3 : 21,  22,)  and  that  being  justified 
by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  (Rom. 
5:1,)  that  as  by  the  disobedience  of  one  man  many  were  made  sinners, 
so  also  by  the  obedience  of  one,  shall  many  be  made  righteous,  (Rom. 
5 : 19,)  and  that  there  is  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
because  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life  has  made  them  free  from  the  law  of  sin 
and  death;  (Rom.  8 : 1,  2,)  that  is,  has  made  them  holy.  Great  promi- 
nence is  every  where  given  in  the  Scriptures,  to  a right  faith,  both  as  being 
itself  a part  of  Christian  obedience,  and  as  tending  to  general  holiness. 
But  holding  even  the  truth  in  unrighteousness  is  every  where  condemned. 
It  not  only  fails  of  saving  men,  but  aggravates  their  condemnation.  The 
way  of  salvation  by  faith  is  not  opposed  in  the  Scriptures  to  the  way  of 
salvation  by  repentance  and  by  holiness.  Christ  taught  that  men  must 
keep  the  commandments  of  God  in  order  to  be  saved,  (Matt.  19  : 16-22,) 
and  that  unless  a man  is  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not 
see  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  (John  3 : 3,  5.)  Peter  tells  us,  that  men 
must  repent  and  turn  to  God  that  their  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  (Acts 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


5 


2 : 38 ; 3 : 19,)  and  that  in  every  nation  he  that  fears  God,  and  works 
righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him.  (Acts  10  : 34.) 

There  is  no  opposition  between  these  statements  and  the  scriptural  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by  faith.  Faith  and  holiness  both  agree.  They  belong 
together,  and  are  inseparable.  He  that  believes  correctly,  speaks  and  acts 
correctly ; and  Believer  is  a scriptural  title  for  a saint,  because 
right  believing  leads  to  holy  living.  The  precise  nature  of  saving 
holiness  — producing  faith,  has  been  a subject  of  much  debate, 
and  many  crude  and  false  notions  are  held  respecting  it,  but  fortu- 
nately we  have  the  question  settled  by  divine  authority.  Paul,  in  a dis- 
course on  the  subject  of  this  faith,  (Hebrews  11  : 1,)  describes  it  as 
a confident  expectation  of  things  hoped  for,  and  a full  belief  in  things 
not  seen.  This  makes  the  objects  of  saving  faith  to  be  the  unseen,  both 
in  the  present  time,  and  the  future.  God  and  Christ,  heaven  and  hell,  and 
the  spiritual  world  with  all  its  objects,  are  to  us  unseen  as  yet,  but  if  we 
believe  in  them,  and  receive  them  as  realities,  they  will  powerfully  affect 
our  dispositions  and  actions.  All  true  holiness  is  from  faith  in  these  ob- 
jects. God  is  the  great  object  of  faith,  but  other  subordinate  objects  of 
the  unseen  world  and  other  truths  possess  no  inconsiderable  importance, 
and  are  revealed  for  the  express  purpose  of  leading  us  to  abandon  our 
sins  and  practice  that  holiness  without  w'hich  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 
We  worship  an  invisible  God  and  expect  the  rewards  of  a holy  obedience, 
to  some  extent  in  this  world,  but  more  fully  in  the  world  to  come  ; and 
hence  are  required  to  live  as  seeing  Him  that  is  invisible,  and  to  perform 
all  our  actions  in  the  full  vievwof  invisible  objects,  and  of  great  moral 
truths. 

Faith  is  not  necessarily  uncertain.  An  uncertain  faith  is  like  un- 
certain knowledge,  of  little  use.  All  our  actions  ought  to  be  predicated 
on  the  certain.  Uncertain  knowledge  is  not  true  knowledge,  and  uncer- 
tain faith  is  not  true  faith.  That  belief  in  the  Gospel,  which  makes 
men  holy  and  saves  them,  is  a belief  in  it  as  certain ; it  is  based 
on  evidence  which  is  decisive  and  irresistible,  and  which  makes  the  con- 
trary impossible.  Such  a faith  is  a valid  basis  in  the  human  soul  for  a 
holy  religion.  It  is  not  only  as  effectual  as  sight,  and  the  other  senses,  in 
giving  us  objects  of  love  and  hatred,  of  hope  and  fear,  but  is  far  more 
so,  inasmuch  as  its  objects  are  of  far  greater  dignity  and  importance  than 
the  noblest  and  most  attractive  object  of  the  senses.  God  far  transcends 
the  most  exalted  of  his  creatures,  and  all  creatures  together.  Heaven 
and  hell  are  the  consummation  of  good  and  evil  in  their  final  results,  in 
which  both  will  exist  to  infinity.  Heaven  is  the  world  of  infinite 
good  and  hell  of  infinite  evil.  When  these  objects  are  apprehended 
as  realities,  it  is  the  same  as  if  we  saw  them,  and  as  if  we  saw  them 
at  hand.  Faith  puts  us  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  brings  heaven  and 
hell  to  our  doors,  and  thus  becomes  a principle  of  action  which  transcends 


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ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


in  power  all  others.  It  attracts,  with  infinite  good,  to  the  right  and  holy, 
and  repels,  with  infinite  evil,  from  the  wrong  and  unholy.  These  objects 
may  be  powerless  to  the  unbelieving,  but  they  operate  on  the  believing 
with  irresistible"  force.  The  world  of  sense  can  bring  nothing  to 
outweigh  them,  nor  to  counteract  their  influence.  All  its  objects  are 
finite  and  comparatively  frivolous  and  powerless,  while  the  objects  of 
a correct  and  adequate  religious  faith  and  of  Christian  morality,  are  infinite 
in  dignity  and  endless  in  duration.  They  draw  their  subjects  to  the  right 
with  the  force  of  blessings  infinite,  commencing  in  time  and  extending 
through  eternity,  and  repel  them  from  the  wrong  with  the  force  of  corre- 
sponding miseries.  By  such  considerations,  and  others  of  a like  character, 
the  Spirit  of  God  turns  men  from  evil  to  good,  from  vice  to  virtue  ; 
leads  them  from  sin  to  holiness ; saves  from  hell  and  guides  to  heaven. 

The  good  news  of  Christ  relates  to  him  as  our  Lord  and  King,  claiming 
our  instant  subjection  as  his  subjects,  and  our  prompt  and  constant  obe- 
dience to  all  his  commandments.  It  relates  to  his  death  as  our  ransom, 
and  a satisfaction  for  sin  ; but  the  condition  of  salvation  is,  that  men 
repent,  believe  in  Christ,  and  practise  holiness.  It  embraces  also  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  all  that  ask  for  that  blessing ; and  de- 
clares his  permanent  continuance  in  the  world,  his  constant  presence 
with  the  Church,  and  with  all  the  good,  as  their  guide  and  coadjutor  in 
leading  them  to  righteousness  and  glory. 

Faith  in  Christ  is  not  simply  a belief  that  the  man  Jesus  once  lived  and 
labored  in  Judea,  as  is  related  in  the  Scriptures ; nor  that  he  was  the  Son 
of  God,  and  not  a man  merely.  All  this  and  much  more  is  consistent 
with  the  continued  dominion  of  sin  in  the  heart  and  life  of  the  subject. 
It  is  a belief  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men, 
as  our  sovereign  Lord  commanding  us  to  do  whatever  is  right  and 
forbidding  whatever  is  wrong,  blessing  us  in  well-doing  with  infinite  good , 
and  overwhelming  us  in  evil-doing  with  infinite  evil.  This  we  can  not  re- 
ceive and  continue  in  sin. 

There  is  a dead  and  inoperative  faith  in  Christ  which  does  not  make  its 
subjects  holy,  and  does  not  save  them  ; but  its  ineflicacy  arises  from  incom- 
pleteness, or  else  from  incorrectness.  An  efficacious  gospel  must  be  a 
true  gospel,  and  it  must  also  be  a complete  gospel.  It  must  have  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  as  our  priest  and  also  as  our  king ; and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  as  our  sanctifier.  Least  of  all  can  we  allow  it  to  be  de- 
prived of  its  law  of  righteousness,  commanding  us  to  love  God  with  all 
our  heart,  and  our  neighbors  as  ourselves ; to  be  perfect,  as  our  Father  in 
heaven  is  perfect,  and  holy  as  God  is  holy.  A so-called  gospel  of  Christ 
without  its  law  commanding  holiness  and  forbidding  sin,  would  be  a sys- 
tem of  sin  and  death,  and  not  an  instrument  of  life.  Christ  was  (Milled 
Jesus,  because  he  should  save  his  people  from  their  sins;  to  save  them 
in  their  sins  is  impossible. 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


7 


Such  a gospel  as  I have  now  described,  the  same  in  its  essential  princi- 
ples as  that  of  Abraham  and  Moses,  with  its  law  of  righteousness  and 
covenant  of  grace,  and  promises  of  life  eternal  to  all  who  receive  it,  after 
being  for  a time  preached  by  our  Lord  himself,  was  committed  to  his  dis- 
ciples to  be  published  throughout  the  whole  world,  and  to  be  made  the  basis 
of  a universal  Messianic  kingdom,  that  was  to  supersede  and  revolutionize 
all  other  kingdoms,  and  reduce  the  whole  world  to  subjection  to  the  Son 
of  God.  This  Gospel  is  an  instrument  of  the  divine  power  and  love,  for 
the  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  whole  world,  and  as  such  we  ought  to 
proclaim  it  abroad  and  make  it  understood,  in  its  truth  and  in  its  fullness, 
till  its  beneficent  ends  shall  be  accomplished. 

Its  efficiency  has  been  fully  tested.  Paul  carried  it  to  the  heathen  in 
his  day,  and  found  it  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  to 
salvation  to  every  one , that  believed  it  from  his  lips  ; and  the  other 
preachers  of  that  day  proclaimed  it  with  similar  success.  Wherever 
Christianity  has  been  corrupted  by  a departure  from  the  Christian  law 
of  righteousness,  the  system  has  lost  its  power.  This  has  occurred  in  all 
the  ancient  churches ; and  it  occurs  in  many  Protestant  churches  of 
modern  times.  A gospel  without  Christ’s  law  of  holiness  is  a false  gos- 
pel, and  can  not  save  the  world.  It  can  not  command  the  faith  of  the 
world ; and  it  can  not  save  those  whose  faith  it  secures,  because  it  does  not 
call  them  to  holiness. 

No  schpme  of  salvation  is  practicable  which  does  not  command  what- 
ever is  right,  and  forbid  whatever  is  wrong  ; which  does  not  insist  on  per- 
fect holiness  and  prohibit  all  sin.  God  is  a Spirit,  and  they  that  wor- 
ship him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ; he  is  holy,  and  they 
that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  holiness.  The  gospel  of  Christ 
calls  men  to  holiness,  and  requires  them  to  die  to  sin,  and  become  alive 
to  holiness ; it  commands  whatever  is  right  and  prohibits  whatever  is 
wrong,  and  has  the  effect  of  matting  men  holy  as  far  as  they  believe  it. 
Unbelievers  it  can  not  save,  because  it  does  not  reach  them  with  its  laws 
of  justice  and  covenant  of  grace  ; but  believers  it  can  not  fail  to  save,  be- 
cause it  turns  them  from  sin  to  holiness,  and  brings  them  into  a covenant 
of  grace  with  God,  in  which  they  serve  him,  and  he  promises  to  save 
them  ; a covenant  sealed  and  ratified  with  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  made 
irrevocable  and  unchangeable. 

If  we  have  such  news,  such  words  of  love  and  power,  a scheme  of  faith 
that  can  be  fully  proved,  and  that  being  proved  and  believed  is  able,  by 
the  grace  of  God.  to  renovate  every  believer,  and  make  him  a pious  and 
good  man,  and  thus  secure  his  eternal  salvation,  besides  conferring  the 
temporal  benefits  which  attend  on  a life  of  holiness  ; if  we  have  news 
that  can  work  these  wonders,  and  accomplish  these  transformations,  we 
ought  to  publish  it  abroad,  and  make  it  known  as  widely  as  possible. 

The  demand  for  such  a gospel  is  loud  and  pressing ; and  millions  of  sin- 


8 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


ners  wait  to  be  initiated  into  its  mysteries,  and  to  be  raised  by  it  from 
their  death  in  sin  to  the  life  of  holiness.  The  world  lies  in  wickedness  to 
this  hour ; it  is  full  of  deceit  and  treachery,  of  fraud  and  violence,  of 
murder  and  revenge,  of  selfishness  and  vice.  The  various  systems  of 
heathenism  have  been  tried  without  effect ; they  do  not  save  their  vota- 
ries. Faith  in  Brama,  Vishnu,  and  Siva  does  not  save  men,  does  not 
make  them  holy  and  happy.  China  has  no  saving,  regenerating  faith  for 
its  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  inhabitants,  except  as  it  receives  the 
faith  of  Christ.  The  Christian  religion  stands  alone  in  embracing  a law  of 
holiness,  and  in  making  its  subjects  holy ; and  any  scheme  of  Christianity 
which  has  not  this  law,  and  does  not  enforce  it  is  fundamentally  corrupt 
and  unfit  for  the  purposes  of  its  adoption.  Such  a system  can  not  save 
the  world. 

After  ages  of  experiment  and  of  human  devices,  the  heathen  world  at 
this  moment  is  numbered  by  many  hundred  millions,  poor,  vicious,  un- 
just, treacherous,  cruel,  revengeful,  hateful,  and  hating  one  another,  elevated 
but  little  above  the  brutes,  and  in  many  respects  degraded  far  below  them. 
They  have  few  liberal  and  ornamental  arts,  little  science,  and  their  whole 
existence  is  of  little  more  use  to  themselves  or  others,  thau  that  of  so  many 
beasts  of  prey.  They  generally  have  nothing  noble,  nothing  generous, 
nothing  magnanimous  ; but  have  the  imbecility  of  children  without  their 
innocence,  and  the  forms  and  stature  of  men  with  the  characters,  in  many 
cases,  of  brutes  and  of  demons.  Their  idol  gods  can  not  save  them,  their 
traditionary  prejudices  only  serve  to  rivet  the  chains  of  their  bondage,  and 
their  systems  of  government  are  vast  engines  of  oppression  and  destruc- 
tion, guarding  them  at  every  point  against  the  access  of  light  and  life. 

Commerce  is  abroad  spreading  her  canvass  to  the  breeze,  and  is  every 
where  seeking  for  gain.  She  studies  the  habits  of  the  heathen,  and  con- 
sults the  gratification  of  their  tastes,  in  order  that  she  may  fill  her 
coffers  at  their  expense.  She  circumnavigates  the  globe  to  carry  them  rum 
and  tobacco , and  opium , and  other  means  of  wickedness  and  death, 
and  entices  them  to  purchase  these  articles  at  the  expense  of  the  little  they 
have  that  contributes  to  make  their  lives  tolerable.  Under  their  baneful 
influence,  their  vices  and  miseries  increase,  till  a process  of  self-extermi- 
nation commences,  which  threatens  their  complete  destruction  at  uo 
distant  day.  Commerce  is  a blessing  to  the  good  who  regulate 
it  by  the  principles  of  justice  and  mercy,  but  to  the  wicked,  and  without 
duo  regulation,  it  is  one  of  the  mightiest  instruments  of  sin  and  misery. 
The  traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors,  in  opium  and  tobacco,  is  a withering,  blight- 
ing curse  to  the  entire  world,  every  where  sowing  the  seeds  of  sin  and 
death ; but  among  the  heathen,  the  injurious  effects  of  these  poisons  are 
the  most  extensive  and  disastrous,  because  they  there  meet  with  the  least 
resistance.  An  unregulated  and  unrighteous  traffic  is  destroying  the  hea- 
then by  many  ten  thousands  a year,  and  contributes  nothing  to  bless  and 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


9 


save  them.  It  covets  their  money  and  such  property  as  can  be  obtained 
from  them  with  their  consent,  and  if  it  can  rob  them  of  the  pittance  they 
have,  cares  not  for  the  vices  and  miseries  to  which  it  contributes.  To 
leave  the  heathen  world  to  the  tender  mercies  of  an  unrighteous  com- 
merce, is  to  leave  it  to  speedy  temporal  destruction,  no  less  than  to  eter- 
nal woe.  The  heathen  must  be  made  righteous,  or  they  can  not  be  saved, 
even  temporally,  nor  their  miseries  be  alleviated.  They  want  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  for  this  purpose.  That  can  save  them  ; nothing  else  can. 

The  descendants  of  the  ancient  churches,  Greek,  Latin,  Nestorian,  Ar- 
menian, Coptic,  and  Abyssinian,  all  want  the  Gospel.  The  system 
which  they  have  is  not  the  Gospel  of  Christ ; but  a corruption  of  it,  in 
which  its  law  of  righteousness  is  virtually  abrogated,  and  so  far  changed 
as  to  be  incapable  of  raising  its  subjects  to  holiness  and  happiness.  Paul 
says  : “ Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel  unto 
you  than  that  which  we  have  preached,  * * * let  him  be  accursed.” 
(Gal.  1 : 8,  9.)  He  said  this  in  respect  to  those  who  proposed  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  but  corrupted  its  law  of  righteousness,  substituting 
legal  ceremonies  for  true  holiness.  A similar  anathema  is  in  place  with 
respect  to  all  similar  corruptions,  till  time  shall  end  ; and  the  teacher  of  a 
false  gospel  deserves  the  curse  of  God,  and  the  reprobation  of  all  good 
men.  Corrupting  the  Gospel  is  infecting  with  poison  the  wells  of  salva- 
tion, and  converting  the  very  instrument  of  life  into  a cause  of  death. 
The  demand  for  the  Gospel  is  very  great,  and  extensive ; and  it  will  re- 
quire a long  time  and  great  exertion  to  furnish  it  to  all. 

We  have  looked  abroad ; let  us  look  at  home.  We  are  a proud  and 
prosperous  country  with  a population  of  25,000,000  of  people.  We  are 
renowned  in  arts  and  arms.  Our  flag  is  respected  on  all  the  seas,  and  all 
nations  pay  homage  to  our  wealth,  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  power. 
W e profess  to  be  a Christian  nation.  The  blessing  of  God  is  invoked  in 
many  of  our  legislative  bodies,  and  in  many  cases  in  our  higher  courts. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  swears  on  the  Bible  to  administer  the 
government  of  the  nation  in  a just  and  equitable  manner,  and  acknow- 
ledges the  divine  sovereignty  in  his  inaugural  address  and  annual  messages 
to  Congress.  Governors  do  the  same.  The  entire  people  claim,  with 
few  exceptions,  to  be  a Christian  people,  to  believe  in  the  sovereignty  of 
God,  and  to  admit  his  supremacy  as  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords, 
and  Sovereign  over  all  sovereigns  whatever.  We  have  an  inheritance  of 
liberty,  bought  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers  and  inexpressibly  dear  to  us, 
which  is  our  continual  boast  and  joy.  With  a republican  government 
securing  the  supremacy  of  the  people  in  the  State,  and  making  our  rulers 
their  agents  and  servants,  and  not  their  masters,  we  might  have  the 
respect  of  the  world.  But  instead  of  this,  we  are  incurring  its  shame 
and  abhorrence. 

The  blood  of  the  innocent  is  on  our  hands,  the  clanking  of  the  chains  of 


10 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


the  oppressed  has  gone  abroad  with  their  cries  of  distress,  into  the  ears  of 
all  nations.  The  hearts  of  the  human  race  are  appealed  to  against  us,  as  an 
unrighteous  nation  ; and  the  appeal  is  not  in  vain.  It  has  obtained  a de- 
liberate hearing,  and  secured  an  unqualified  condemnation  of  our  hypoc- 
risy and  oppression,  and  loud  denunciations  of  our  wickedness.  The 
world  declares  us  in  the  wrong.  Christian  and  Mohammedan  nations 
concur  in  denouncing  our  guilt.  The  cry  of  the  oppressed  bond- 
men has  entered  into  the  ears  of  God,  and  enlists  His  sympathy  and 
favor.  He  has  heard  the  oppressed  before ; he  hears  and  may 
save  them  now,  notwithstanding  the  apparent  power  of  their  op- 
pressors. With  the  sword  of  the  Almighty  in  the  scale,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  it  will  incline.  We  are  not  strong  enough  to  cope  with  God,  and 
He  has  ample  means  to  humble  and  crush  us  in  the  dust.  He  can  make 
our  wickedness  the  means  of  our  punishment,  and  raise  up  executors  of 
his  vengeance  from  ourselves. 

Fearful  portents  are  already  abroad.  The  sun  of  our  prosperity  is 
darkened ; the  moon  withholds  her  light,  and  the  stars  of  our  political 
glory  are  setting  fast  in  death.  An  alarming  corruption  of  the  Gospel 
has  taken  place,  depriving  it  of  its  power  to  soften  the  heart  of 
the  oppressor,  or  to  shield  the  oppressed,  and  making  it  a dishonored  and 
loathsome  instrument  of  vice  and  woe.  The  lights  of  the  pulpit  have  in 
many  cases  become  dim  in  the  service  of  the  oppressor,  and  the  man  who 
proclaims  the  law  of  God  gets  himself  a blot. 

Wickedness  has  come  in  like  a flood,  and  scenes  of  tragic  cruelty  are 
enacted  in  our  land  with  the  connivance  of  men  in  power.  Within  the 
last  two  years  a senator  has  been  nearly  murdered  in  his  seat  in  the 
Capitol,  in  the  presence  of  his  peers,  because  he  asserted  the  laws  of  eter- 
nal justice,  and  assailed  a vast  system  of  national  oppression,  which  not 
only  consigns  four  millions  of  human  beings  to  bondage,  but  is  plotting 
for  an  indefinite  and  general  extension  of  its  evils  throughout  the  whole 
land  ; and  the  murderous  assailant  was  punished  with  a fine,  such  as  would 
be  suitable  for  an  act  of  violence  committed  against  a neighbor’s  ox  ; and 
then  glorified  by  the  South  as  their  champion  and  benefactor. 

Kansas  has  been  invaded  by  hired  ruffians  in  the  interest  of  slavery,  and 
subjugated  and  governed  as  a conquered  province  under  a system  of  op- 
pression which  would  have  disgraced  American  savages ; and  its  ruffian 
invaders  have  been  supported  and  aided  in  this  outrage  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate  and  a large 
party  of  the  entire  nation.  Ever  since  1850  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  been  the  public  prosecutor  of  fugitive  slaves  from  the  entire 
South,  and  has  professed  himself  willing  and  determined  to  pursue  this 
vocation  with  the  whole  strength  of  the  United  States  army  and  navy,  if 
so  ample  a force  should  be  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  objects. 
He  has  had  but  little  success  in  capturing  fugitives,  but  his  disposition  to 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


1 


do  it,  has  been  clearly  evinced ; and  the  American  people  have  tolerated 
0 this  foul  dishonor.'  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  nation  has  laid  aside  the 
spotless  robes  of  justice,  and  trampled  in  the  dust  constitutional  law  and 
equity,  and  the  supreme  law  of  God,  to  lend  their  high  sanction  to  oppres- 
sion, bolster  up  with  their  authority  its  tottering  cause,  and  provide  for 
extending  it  indefinitely  through  the  land.  All  this  would  be  of  little 
avail,  and  of  little  consequence,  if  it  was  not  for  the  consent  of  the  people. 

In  our  large  cities,  and  scattered  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  whole 
land,  are  multitudes  of  evil  men,  of  low  and  vicious  tastes,  steeped  in 
liquor  and  tobacco,  thieves,  pickpockets,  liars,  fraudulent  dealers  of  every 
possible  kind,  profane  swearers,  Sabbath-breakers,  neglecters  of  the  house 
of  God,  licentious  persons  living  in  wickedness,  men  who  fear  not  God 
nor  regard  man,  whose  sympathies  are  against  the  right  and  in  favor 
of  the  wrong,  who  are  ready  to  support  every  bad  cause  for  a reward,  and 
in  most  cases  gratuitously,  and  as  ready  to  oppose  every  good  cause,  many 
of  whom  close  their  career  of  sin  and  shame  in  prisons  as  felons,  and  some 
of  them  on  the  gallows.  They  are  detestable  and  loathsome,  living  in 
dens  of  filth,  breeding  pestilence  and  death,  and  in  many  cases  holding  the 
balance  of  poioer  in  the  nation , and  deciding  by  their  votes,  the  most  vital 
questions  which  pertain  to  our  national  policy  and  government,  questions 
involving  peace  and  war,  and  all  the  high  interests  of  property,  personal 
liberty  and  security,  morality  and  religion.  We  read  in  the  Scriptures 
that  righteousness  exalteth  a nation,  but  that  sin  is  a reproach  to  any 
people.  In  our  nation,  the  vilest  of  men  hold  the  balance  of  power,  in 
many  cases  determine  our  policy,  and  give  direction  to  the  measures  of 
the  government. 

If  any  nation  needs  the  gospel  of  Christ  for  its  renovation,  do  we  not 
need  it  1 What  other  power  can  make  our  people  a holy  people,  and 
recall  us  from  our  errors  to  a just  observance  of  the  laws  of  God  ? The 
gospel  of  Christ  can  do  this,  and  nothing  else  can.  It  proposes  mercy  for 
the  chief  of  sinners,  and  makes  provision  for  their  repentance  and  pardon. 
W e must  be  saved  as  a nation  by  the  Gospel,  or  we  shall  as  certainly  be 
wrecked  and  ruined  by  our  wickedness,  as  Rome  was  under  her  emperors, 
or  as  Judea  was  under  her  priests.  Wickedness  must  be  checked,  and  piety 
and  virtue  must  be  promoted  among  us,  with  more  vigor  and  more  effect 
than  heretofore,  or  we  shall  bring  down  ruin  upon  ourselves  as  certainly 
as  we  exist,  and  that  at  no  distant  period.  The  gospel  of  Christ  is  our 
sovereign  remedy,  and  can  avail  to  correct  our  evils.  It  can  not  only  pre- 
serve our  institutions  of  liberty  and  justice  from  further  decline,  but  im- 
prove and  perfect  them.  There  is  a balm  in  Gilead  and  a Physician 
there,  that  can  save  the  lost, and  restore  not  the  sick  only,  but  the  dead. 
This  balm  is  the  gospel  of  Christ. 


12 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


IMPROVEMENT. 

1.  The  law  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  Church.  All  church 
rules  and  regulations  inconsistent  with  this,  are  null  and  void  from  the 
beginning,  and  ought  to  be  instantly  discarded.  Churches  must  enjoin 
faith  in  Christ,  and  submission  to  him ; they  must  command  whatever  is 
right,  and  prohibit  whatever  is  wrong ; but  they  must  not  command  the 
wrong  nor  prohibit  the  right.  As  far  as  they  do  this,  their  commands 
and  prohibitions  are  without  any  valid  authority  ; and  deserve  only  con- 
tempt. It  is  not  enough  for  churches  to  advise  in  favor  of  the  right  and 
against  the  wrong  ; they  must  command.  Remonstrances  are  no  substi- 
tute for  commandments. 

As  an  enormous  system  of  wrong,  African  slavery  ought  to  be  pro- 
hibited to  its  membership  by  every  church  in  the  world.  If  it  had  been 
met  with  universal  church  prohibition,  at  its  origin,  it  would  soon  have 
been  abandoned,  and  have  passed  away.  The  Quakers  led  the  way  in 
condemning  and  prohibiting  it,  some  years  since  ; several  other  churches 
have  followed  their  example  in  this  respect,  and  all  must  follow  it.  The 
Church  of  God  can  not  tolerate  slavery  without  abandoning  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Gospel,  and  involving  itself  in  infinite  wickedness.  A charity 
that  justifies  slavery,  or  tolerates  it  without  justification,  is  a doctrine  of 
devils,  and  not  of  God ; and  is  incompatible  with  the  gospel  of  Christ  or 
the  good  of  men. 

2.  The  law  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  state.  The  separa- 
tion of  the  Church  and  State  is  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Gospel 
scheme,  considered  in  distinction  from  that  of  Abraham  and  Moses.  It  is 
a great  improvement  on  the  method  of  earlier  times,  and  ought  to  be 
every  where  preserved.  But  in  separating  the  Church  from  the  State,  and 
organizing  it,  as  an  independent  body,  God  does  not  relinquish  his  au- 
thority over  the  State ; he  is  as  much  the  supreme  Head  of  the  State  as 
he  is  of  the  Church ; and  his  law  of  righteousness  binds  the  State  as  much 
as  it  does  the  Church.  States  are  under  a divine  obligation,  to  command 
and  observe  whatever  is  right,  and  to  prohibit  and  avoid  whatever  is 
wrong,  God  is  not  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  over  the  State 
through  the  Church,  nor  over  the  Church  through  the  State ; he  is  the  su- 
preme Sovereign  of  both  directly  ; and  gives  to  both  laws  suited  to  their 
respective  objects.  Many  of  the  laws  of  righteousness  are  common  to  the 
Church  and  State  ; others  are  peculiar  to  each. 

I do  not  say  that  the  law  of  righteousness  ought  to  be  the  law  of  the 
State  ; it  is  the  law  of  the  State  ; and  that,  whether  acknowledged  or  not, 
and  whether  obeyed  or  not.  God’s  requirements  do  not  wait  for  the  con- 
sent of  men  to  become  laws.  They  derive  their  authority  from  their  divine 
Author,  and  are  equally  valid  whether  acknowledged  or  not. 

The  gospel  of  Christ,  being  the  supreme  law  of  the  State,  any  enactment 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


13 


inconsistent  with  it  is  null  and  void,  and  is  to  be  disregarded.  If  made 
by  the  legislature  it  is  not  to  be  respected  by  the  courts,  on  the  principle 
that  the  higher  law  supersedes  the  lower ; if  such  a law  is  passed  by  the 
legislature  and  sustained  by  the  courts,  the  executive  department  of  the 
government  ought  to  refuse  to  execute  and  enforce  it,  as  still  being  con- 
trary to  the  supreme  law  of  the  State ; and  if  such  a law  is  sanctioned  by 
all  the  departments  of  the  government,  it  ought  to  be  resisted  and  re- 
jected by  the  people,  on  the  principle  of  the  Scriptures,  that  it  is  necessary 
to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  The  lower  law  heresij  of  our  times  and 
country,  that  laws  commanding  what  is  wrong  must  be  respected  by  the 
courts,  executed  by  the  President,  and  obeyed,  till  they  are  regularly  re- 
pealed by  the  action  of  the  people,  is  a gross  departure  from  the  Gospel 
and  from  common-sense,  and  involves  a virtual  denial  of  the  supremacy 
of  God.  God  is  to  be  obeyed,  always  and  in  all  cases,  oppose  it  who  will, 
and  command  the  contrary  who  will.  His  laws  are  not  matters  of  opin- 
ion and  of  uncertainty  ; nothing  is  more  certain.  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
man  to  know  and  observe  them,  and  to  encourage  the  observance  of  them 
by  others,  fearless  of  consequences  and  careless  of  opposition  ; and  the  man 
who,  knowing  the  law  of  God,  will  not  observe  it  because  the  State  com- 
mands or  legalizes  the  contrary,  is  an  enemy  of  God  and  righteousness, 
and  a child  of  hell. 

3.  The  law  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  family.  Families, 
like  churches  and  states,  ought  to  be  regulated  according  to  the  law  of 
God.  Parents  ought  to  direct  their  children  conformably  to  it,  and  to 
propose  it  as  the  only  rule  of  their  government.  Any  thing  beyond  it  is 
wrong,  and  any  thing  short  of  it  is  also  wrong.  The  poor  success  of  many 
families,  in  training  up  their  children  to  piety  and  virtue,  is  undoubtedly 
owing  to  a deficiency  in  this  respect.  They  do  not  govern  their  children  by 
the  law  of  God,  but  by  lower  laws,  and  such  as  are  inconsistent  with  it ; 
and  as  a natural  result  of  such  training,  their  children  grow  up  in  wicked- 
ness. The  proper  regulation  of  families  is  one  of  the  principal  means  of 
perpetuating  and  extending  religion  in  the  world  ; and  without  it,  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world  is  impossible.  The  world  will  not  be  saved  till  the 
Gospel  is  made  the  supreme  law  of  Christian  families  practically,  as  it  is 
really. 

4.  The  law  of  Christ  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  world.  It  demands 
the  subjection  of  all  nations  and  ages,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  universally 
preached  and  observed.  Let  no  church  promulgate  any  other  Gospel,  let 
no  Christian  missionary  preach  any  other ; but  let  us  every  where  preach 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  call  men  to  him  as  their  common  Lord  and 
Saviour.  This  is  our  appropriate  work  as  individuals,  and  as  an  Associa- 
tion. The  American  Missionary  Association  is  essentially  Puritan , but 
is  only  so  in  order  that  it  may  be  thoroughly  Christian.  Our  maxim  is, 
“ First  pure,  then  peaceable.”  Our  aim  is,  like  that  of  our  Master,  to  dis- 
seminate righteousness,  and  to  wage  an  uncompromising  war  against 


14 


ANNUAL  DISCOURSE. 


wickedness  of  all  kinds,  of  all  degrees,  and  in  all  countries.  Especially 
does  it  become  us  to  labor  vigorously  for  the  more  thorough  evangeliza- 
tion of  our  own  land.  Sin  must  be  resisted  in  the  Church  and  State. 
Its  odiousness  and  deformity  must  be  clearly  exhibited  to  public  view, 
and  the  friends  of  righteousness  induced  to  unite  their  earnest  and  deter- 
mined efforts  to  breast  the  rising  tide  of  wickedness,  and  check  its  pro- 
gress, whatever  expense,  and  whatever  effort  may  be  necessary  for 
that  purpose.  If  we  are  faithful  to  our  calling  we  shall  achieve  a glorious 
victory.  Our  aim  is  holy,  and  can  not  fail  to  secure  the  favor  of  God. 
Our  work  is  timely,  and  meets  a mighty  exigency  in  the  Church  and  State. 
It  is  the  conflict  of  the  ages,  it  is  the  battle  of  God ; and  if  it  is  properly 
pursued  it  must  be  crowned  with  victory  — speedy  and  glorious. 
“ The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come  And  let  him  that  heareth  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him 
take  the  water  of  life  freely.” 

We  have  arrived  at  a momentous  crisis  in  human  affairs  ; and  are  called 
upon  to  inaugurate  a new  era  of  righteousness  in  Church  and  State.  A 
false  gospel,  a gospel  of  unrighteousness ; a carnal  church,  which  is  split 
into  a thousand  contending  factions,  one  saying,  I am  of  Paul  and  another, 
I am  of  Apollos ; one  claiming  to  be  of  Calvin  and  another  of  Arminius 
and  Wesley  and  others,  are  trying  hard  to  save  the  world,  and  to  stem 
the  tide  of  its  wickedness.  But  they  have  not  saved  it,  and  they  never 
will  save  it.  We  must  have  a revival  of  the  old  Church  of  Christ,  which 
is  one  and  indivisible.  Christ  must  be  acknowledged  as  our  only  Master, 
and  God  as  our  only  Father  ; and  righteousness  as  our  only  law.  Then 
will  our  long  deferred  triumph  begin,  and  the  world  be  brought  to  the  feet 
of  Christ. 

God  will  honor  his  own  Church  and  support  his  own  cause.  He  has 
mercies  for  repenting  sinners,  and  stripes  for  the  back  of  fools.  The  na- 
tions that  serve  him  he  will  bless,  but  his. enemies  he  will  crush  and  des- 
troy forever.  Be  wise  therefore,  O ye  sovereign  people  ! be  instructed  ye 
magistrates,  legislators,  and  judges  of  the  nation  ; serve  the  Lord  with  fear, 
and  make  your  instant  submission  to  his  law  ; kiss  the  Son  of  God,  and 
pay  your  devotions  at  his  feet,  lest  he  be  angry  with  you,  and  you  perish 
under  his  avenging  rod. 

Blessed  is  the  man  that  sees  this  day  and  appreciates  it.  Saints  and 
martyrs  have  wished  for  it  long,  and  died  without  the  sight.  It  is  the 
great  day  of  God,  and  a thousand  witnesses  conspire  to  testify  that  the 
triumphant  and  universal  establishment  of  God’s  kingdom  is  at  hand.  It 
is  being  cried  by  a thousand  heralds,  Prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and 
make  straight  highways  for  his  coming.  But  far  above  the  voice  of  herald 
or  minister,  is  heard  the  voice  of  God  himself,  proclaiming  in  trumpet 
tones : “ Behold  I come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give 
every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be.”  Amen.  Come,  Lord  Jesus, 
come  quickly,  and  bring  the  world  to  thy  feet ! 


✓ 


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